The shouting and killing nearby had been too loud, especially the rumble of the catapults.
Coupled with the pain of the injury on his face, disturbing his thoughts, by the time Zheng Tu realized something was amiss, the rear formation had already fallen into utter chaos.
“What happened?”
Zheng Tu asked in shock and anger. He had already allowed some people to enter the city to burn, kill, and loot.
He did not expect these short-sighted, worthless fellows to keep working hard, but he also could not allow them to drag everyone down.
“Those who charge around blindly, behead them!”
Zheng Tu shouted with furrowed brows, and several other generals reacted quickly, giving similar orders.
However, they had always relied on the Holy Lotus Sect’s intimidation to keep the troops in line. This time, when the rebel soldiers saw the Holy Maiden among the panicked crowd, they became dumbfounded.
The Holy Maiden was dressed in white, very eye-catching.
Upon closer inspection, it was not just the Holy Maiden; even the previously smug Protectors and Incense Masters of the Holy Lotus Sect looked grim. Those who were running around shouting were not only a few rebel soldiers but mostly followers holding ritual implements, blowing conch horns, and carrying flags.
Apart from the wandering fighters who had joined them, the rest of the Holy Lotus Sect’s followers had been carefully chosen. Without both eloquence and proper looks, it was delusional to think of serving beside the Holy Maiden and Protectors. After being selected, they could practice martial arts and enjoy good food and clothing, so it was considered a good job, and they could get close to the Holy Maiden and the Sect Master, receiving blessings greater than others.
Now, they had been scared out of their wits, running around like headless flies in a complete panic.
The rebel soldiers were momentarily stunned, not knowing how to carry out General Zheng’s order.
“Demons have come!”
“A demon wind swept away the Sect Master and Protector Li… and even killed several Incense Masters…”
“Hurry to the City God Temple; the Holy Maiden said she could request heavenly troops and generals there to exorcise the demons!”
The Holy Lotus Sect followers cried out loudly, yet no one dared to move toward the dark areas.
They had never been to Nanping County’s city before, and it was the middle of the night—who knew where the City God Temple was? Driven by survival instincts, they only ran toward the brightest fires. After all, once in the dark, they would be as blind as bats. With Sect Master Luo’s life uncertain, their only thought naturally turned to the Tianshou King.
“Star Lord, save us!”
“Your Majesty—”
The rebel soldiers were also affected, turning around in panic.
Those who devoutly believed in the Purple Star Lord’s teachings became even more eager to get close to the Tianshou King.
The Holy Maiden and Protectors were still in shock. By the time they realized something was wrong, they could no longer restrain the followers.
The demon stories turned into a double-edged sword, now cutting back at them. No matter how harshly they scolded, the Holy Lotus Sect followers—having witnessed Protectors and Incense Masters die—were scared witless. The more they had believed themselves protected and impervious to harm, the more they now believed in the demons’ terrifying power. They had no intention of fighting back.
These were demons! How could mortal men resist?
As if a stone had been thrown into a lake, ripples rapidly spread. The once well-organized formation showed signs of collapse.
Aside from the vanguard who had worked themselves into a battle frenzy, eyes bloodshot, and some elite troops holding the line behind them, everyone else forgot the city gate just within reach. The demons were more terrifying, and they desperately needed someone to come out and offer reassurance.
The Tianshou King’s carriage inevitably took a hit. Even with the Holy Maiden and several Holy Lotus Sect experts shouting threats, the panicked crowd still surged forward, reaching their arms toward the carriage.
—A crush of heads and a forest of raised arms, waving and struggling under the blaze of the flames, like an infernal scene from the Yellow Springs.
On the carriage, the “Tianshou King” saw this and, despite wearing a mask, showed eyes filled with dread and panic.
He could not speak, could not move, and had merely been propped up there as a puppet, with no ability to hold the situation together.
Terrified, he nearly lost consciousness.
At that moment, Zheng Tu learned the full story from his personal guards, and his expression changed drastically.
The mysterious blade master who had retreated before had likely been gravely wounded, perhaps even mortally. Zheng Tu had considered that scenario and felt a return was unlikely. Even so, once his own injuries had slightly improved, he had mobilized troops to attack Nanping County’s city, not daring to be careless.
He never expected… that beyond that assassin, others were working with him?
Were they from the Fengxing Pavilion?
Or from the Hengshan Sect?
Countless guesses flashed through Zheng Tu’s mind. The Jiangnan situation remained unclear.
On the surface, the largest orthodox sect here was Hengshan, followed by the Fengxing Pavilion with its sprawling information network. But the Fengxing Pavilion itself had its messy connections to King Ning in Yangzhou. Hidden remnants of Xiliang lurked in Jingzhou, and King Wu was hardly a pushover; by offering high ranks and salaries, he had gathered many martial artists under his banner.
“Keep attacking the city—don’t give the Jingzhou troops time to breathe.” Zheng Tu tried to steady his nerves, commanding his subordinates to regroup.
The other generals also saw the danger. They realized that if the Tianshou King’s army failed here, all previous gains would vanish. Although Jingzhou was in turmoil, they themselves had not gained any real advantage. Formerly officials of Yizhou, forced by circumstances to abandon their posts and become bandits, they ended up as rebels. They did not want to settle for just looting scraps from Jiangnan’s populace. If this continued, forget titles of royalty or high office—survival would be in jeopardy.
They clenched their teeth, determined to capture the city, destroy the Jingzhou troops, and then recruit any stragglers, thus expanding their ranks.
This plan was feasible—if one fed a man, one earned his service. Especially those without family ties had no real loyalty. As for those fools who believed in gods and demons, let them die!
In tacit agreement, the generals promptly abandoned the “Tianshou King” and personally charged into the fray.
Flames soared, and thick smoke rolled.
Zheng Tu believed Sect Master Luo’s martial prowess was enough for any situation.
If all else failed, they could still escape.
Zheng Tu merely had facial injuries. After several days of recuperation, his minor internal wounds had healed. If he joined forces with Sect Master Luo, even going up against Patriarch Zhao Zangfeng of Qingwu, they might not lose…
Damn it! Zheng Tu clenched his teeth, pressing a hand to his forehead. He felt a growing sense of foreboding.
Ever since arriving at Hua County, there had been endless surprises, and Zheng Tu no longer dared to assume anything.
“Clang.”
An object fell from the sky, landing right before Zheng Tu’s horse.
The frightened horse neighed, rising on its hind legs.
Zheng Tu had excellent horsemanship. He pulled the reins sharply, forcing the horse to steady.
After collecting himself and looking down at the ground, he suddenly widened his eyes.
“What is that?” asked his personal guards nervously.
The crowd parted slightly, and the Holy Lotus Sect followers who had been pushed aside saw the item. They were instantly filled with dread.
“It’s Sect Master Luo’s weapon…”
The crescent halberd was stuck upside-down in the gaps of the stone slabs. The tassel was stained red, the wide crescent blade twisted by great force, and the shaft broken in two.
This weapon, which had once instilled fear in the Holy Lotus Sect experts, now appeared in a state of utter defeat—like a foreboding omen.
“No!”
“Impossible!”
They growled in disbelief, and Zheng Tu, still astride his horse, swayed slightly.
Although Sect Master Luo did not subscribe to the saying “If the person lived, the halberd remained; if the person died, the halberd broke,” for those in the martial world, having their signature weapon abandoned or broken was more terrifying than death.
“How could the Sect Master have possibly… been defeated in such a short moment?”
The Holy Lotus Sect members knew better than anyone how powerful Sect Master Luo’s martial skills were. They could not even imagine what level of martial prowess would be needed to kill Sect Master Luo. It was like mountains collapsing, the sun and moon reversing—virtually impossible.
“Snap!”
The second thing that fell from the sky was precisely Sect Master Luo’s corpse, his eyes open in death.
Everyone cried out at once. Zheng Tu’s eyes nearly burst from their sockets. He did not have many trump cards left, and Sect Master Luo was the most important one. Losing Sect Master Luo meant he no longer had the confidence not to fear any martial experts.
“Show yourself!”
Zheng Tu roared. With a light step, he stood directly on the saddle.
Sect Master Luo’s fatal wound was on his heart, and judging by the mark, it had been left by the mysterious expert who had rescued the assassin.
“Since you had the skill to kill, and you threw away the corpse in provocation, why hide in the shadows at this moment?” Zheng Tu channelled his inner power, and his voice echoed for half a mile. Everyone felt their ears buzzing, dizzy and unsteady.
Though Zheng Tu seemed reckless, he actually took every precaution, scanning the nearby rooftops.
Suddenly, his gaze stopped at a spot along one roof ridge.
A solitary figure stood silently within the shadow of the roof ridge, autumn wind rustling, his garments fluttering.
Like a wandering spectre arriving unnoticed in the midst of flames and battle cries, his hand rested on his blade’s hilt, and the moonlight shone coldly upon the blade’s edge.
It was clearly a dull, unsharpened curved blade with not a trace of blood upon it, and the man himself was like stone or pine, austere and refined, without any obvious killing intent. Yet Zheng Tu’s pupils contracted sharply, as though he heard the bells of the underworld, an even stronger sense of foreboding stirring within him.
Long ago, instinct accompanied Zheng Tu across the martial world, allowing him to surpass countless opponents.
Almost reflexively, he sprang backward and to the right.
There came a horrific neigh, and the horse on which Zheng Tu had stood was left with torn flesh across its back.
“Such a pity for that good horse.”
Meng Qi sighed softly. In that instant, more than a dozen purple sword flashes filled the air, each an afterimage left by a sword strike too swift to follow.
Around ten white-robed Holy Maidens and Holy Lotus Sect Protectors spurted blood from their chests and died on the spot.
Zheng Tu leaped onto the rooftop, sweeping his palm sideways to meet the bladeless edge head-on.
He knew that if he failed to survive this calamity tonight, no other matters would be worth mentioning.
Though Zheng Tu never used weapons in the martial world, it did not mean he lacked hidden tricks.
Flipping his palms, he held a pair of metal knuckles. The blades at his five finger joints gleamed with cold light.
Fistwork demanded little room to maneuver, and Mo Li’s weapon of choice was a short sabre, forcing both sides into dangerously close combat. Each time the metal knuckles and blade edge brushed past ears or throats, onlookers held their breath in shock, not daring to blink.
Yet the fight was nowhere near as perilous as it seemed.
In the blink of an eye—sixty instants in a finger snap, nine hundred changes in a single instant—dozens of moves passed. The bladeless edge and the metal knuckles never met, and even their bursts of inner power did not collide. All that broke were the tiles at their feet.
“The more brilliant one’s swordsmanship or blade work, the more patterns it has. Like a piece of celestial music, where every note follows the score—one wrong note ruins everything.
“Others fail to parry only because they lack firm resolve, high-level inner power, and enough speed to continually deflect every strike.”
Zheng Tu laughed coldly. Though perhaps his innate constitution could not match that of his master, Zhao Zangfeng, his martial talent lay in dismantling and neutralizing moves.
“You cannot kill me, unless you forget the blade techniques you have practiced day and night. But alas, blade intent is ingrained in a martial artist’s flesh and blood. Even if you discard every stance, the blade intent itself would remain unchanged.”
He twisted his metal knuckles once more. A sliver of cold light shone like the sky before dawn.
The two figures darted about with lightning speed, faster than the naked eye could track. Tiles fell like rain.
At such close quarters, moving so rapidly, no one else could intervene.
Meng Qi glanced around, suddenly slashing away the hand of an old man reaching into his sleeve. With a loud boom, dust billowed in all directions, and the old man, along with several people around him, fell in mangled heaps.
“So it was the Pili Hall.”
The Holy Lotus Sect experts realized the danger. Paying no further heed, they scattered in all directions.
The battle ahead was chaotic, the crowds of panicked followers and rebel soldiers everywhere. Even if Meng Qi used all his lightness skills, he could not possibly chase down and kill every Holy Lotus Sect expert spread among tens of thousands of people.
That was precisely what the Holy Lotus Sect people had in mind.
Run. As long as they were lucky, perhaps others would be the ones who died.
The bandages on Zheng Tu’s face had loosened, revealing deep, ghastly wounds. His expression looked all the more distorted.
“Such exquisite blade intent—uniting yin and yang, reversing death into life. You are indeed a fine opponent! I suppose you must be the one… who killed my master?” Zheng Tu suddenly burst into mad laughter, his wounds bleeding profusely as he cursed, “Disciple of the Divine Gourd Physician, and the Imperial Advisor Meng of the Chu Dynasty?”
“Boom.”
With a muffled sound, several figures were knocked back and crashed into the crowd.
Meng Qi stopped in place, seeing those very people who had managed to flee from the Holy Lotus Sect lying there.
At the far edge of the firelight, someone appeared carrying a horsetail whisk, a long sword strapped to his back, moving against the flow.
Then came a clear, distant chant, and the sword was drawn.
“This poor Daoist finally made it in time.”
The Daoist stepped forward with sword in hand. Wherever the sword light passed, blood sprayed. Then a cold, stern voice spread in every direction.
“Ning Changyuan of the Tianshan Sect stands here. You who cast your lot with the Holy Lotus Sect, vile heretics, today is your day of execution.”
Author’s Note:
Mo Li could defeat Zheng Tu. It was just that Zheng Tu had a special trick. If he studied your sword moves in depth, then one-on-one, he was nearly invincible. Also, the boss cannot die in just one chapter.
——
Ning Changyuan: Let me join the party and snag a boss.
Meng Qi: …
Ning Changyuan: I can clear the mobs.
[Imperial Advisor Meng approved Daoist Ning’s party request]
[Even a light bulb can have a use]
Zheng Tu, who lost his teammate: ??? I have something extremely unpleasant to say!
